New to MFI, looking for info/support

[5terre]

We just got our SA results today and it's not good. 78% abnormal, and count was 3.2/mL (is that 3.2 million or just 3.2??). I am in shock, I thought I was the (only) cause of our possible secondary IF. We are blessed with a DD that was conceived naturally in less than a year. Is she just a miracle? Is it possible for him to 'get better'? I have so many questions and am not sure where to look. Also looking for support in dealing with this, and dealing with DH's reaction. Is there a group for MFI here that I'm not seeing? Thanks.

[wtg4miracle]

5terre--so sorry you are going through this. There are a few girls on the Infertility One Thread that can help you out. We are dealing with boderline morph issues. Is this his first SA?

[nummies]

Yes, like wtg4miracle said, is this his first SA? Sometimes men can just have bad days. I would wait until you get results from a second SA to be sure.

Also, the 78% isn't so bad. I mean, it isn't great but I would be happy with that. We have 99% abormal.

The count is what concerns me with your case. That is 3.2 million not just 3.2. But I would still wait until the 2nd SA to be sure.

So sorry that you have to deal with this! But all hope isn't lost. Even if those are his actual numbers, you still have a lot of options.

[5terre]

Thanks for your responses. Yes, this was his first one.

[ladylaura]

Hi, my husband also has MFI - for him it's a genetic defect - his 13 and 14 chromosomes are stuck together, it's called a Robertsonian translocation. There's no symptoms of it except for his extremely low sperm count (~300,000). It was a blow to him to find out initially - he felt very emasculated. But, he's gotten past it in time, and I don't think it bothers him much anymore (found out 8 months ago). Just be as supportive of his manhood as much as possible; it's typically a really sensitive thing for a guy to not be able to procreate whenever he pleases, or at least that's what my husband says.

Get some more tests done, at least another SA, and don't worry too too much!

[Ruby20]

low morphology ... IVF?

we just got my DH sperm analysis results back .. and they aren't good. he only has 8% normal sperm morphology. 40% motility. his count is well above excellent (over 90 million) but as the morphology is so low ... there doesn't seem to be much help.

I am curious if anyone has done IVF with such low morphology? or better yet conceived naturally? our doctor seemed to think that IVF was our best bet, being that he gets ok results on the chromosonal tests and testicular ultrasound.

I just feel totally overwhelmed by this all and can't stop crying. I feel badly bc it must be making it harder for him but I cant help myself. we want a baby so badly and this just seems so hard to take.

does anyone have some words of wisdom or insight for us?

[nummies]

Originally Posted by Ruby20

we just got my DH sperm analysis results back .. and they aren't good. he only has 8% normal sperm morphology. 40% motility. his count is well above excellent (over 90 million) but as the morphology is so low ... there doesn't seem to be much help.

I am curious if anyone has done IVF with such low morphology? or better yet conceived naturally? our doctor seemed to think that IVF was our best bet, being that he gets ok results on the chromosonal tests and testicular ultrasound.

I just feel totally overwhelmed by this all and can't stop crying. I feel badly bc it must be making it harder for him but I cant help myself. we want a baby so badly and this just seems so hard to take.

does anyone have some words of wisdom or insight for us?

So sorry to hear about this. But honestly 8% isn't horrible. It isn't great, but like I mentioned before we are dealing with only 1%. Anyway, we did IVF with our first child. Worked on the first try. We are now doing some IUIs for our second. We did concieve naturally once, but ended in miscarriage.

Best wishes to you.

[5terre]

Does anyone know of any buddy groups anywhere specifically for MFI? I haven't been able to find one. It surprises me, there are so many groups for the female side of things. I'm getting over the shock, finally. Now I have to decide on a clinic and urologist to get more answers.

Ruby, even with poor morph and motility, with your DH's high count you still have more 'perfect' sperm than my DH has all together including all the abnormal/slow ones. The great count might give you more options than you might have otherwise. Also, it depends on what the abnormality is, sometimes it is not the cause of the infertility. Motility and count are often more important.

[nummies]

There isn't a specific thread here for MFI. We are all in the Infertility One thread though if you want to join.

[Snapdragon]

I found a forum on a different website that deals with this but I wasn't so into it.
http://forums.fertilitycommunity.com...s-infertility/

I think it was mostly for azoospermia- which is what my dh has- which is where there are no sperm in the semen. but I didn't really connect with the vibe of it, I am more "crunchy".
I think we should atleast start a regular thread in a MDC forum for it- because MDC attracts such great open minded people to gather support from.

I have some info about it, just from my own research and experience, if you want to talk about it.

[marinak1977]

Also dealing with MFI

Hey Everyone, we're also dealing with MFI - my husband has astenooligozoospermia - I think it is low count and motility. He has ~20-30 million total count and motility in ~30% range. He also has low swimout rates and high pH. A nutritionist found that he had a severe zinc deficiency - so now he is taking supplements and different diet to see if that helps. We've been TTC for about a 18 months, and off BC for 2+ years. We got a BFP naturally in january, but it ended in a m/c. I think for us - charting really helped because we could time things better. But, then he does have some viable swimmers.

[5terre]

Yes, let's start a MFI group. It doesn't have to be super active but it would be nice for the support, and also for people who are new to it and looking for info.

[marinak1977]

Yes and MFI group sounds great!
I forgot to add - my OBGYN met with us after a m/c and recommended that if we don't get a after 3 months of active trying we should look into IUI. I'm going to start stalking IUI threads to see how it works.

[5terre]

Marina, I'm sorry to hear about your loss, that must have been devastating. But it does leave a lot of hope.

So who wants to start the group? Should it be in the TTC or the IF forum?

[marinak1977]

Hmm... I'm not sure where the thread should be... I'd be happy to start it, but where? Title something like TTC with MFI in 2009?

[ladylaura]

I would definitely also help out with a MFI thread - it's WAY more common than people think, and I am so sick of people assuming that it's ME who is at the root of our infertility... it's not always the woman!

[5terre]

Laura, I'm also in MA and would love to hear where you're going and who your urologist is, and what you think of them. We are still in the deciding stages (who to pick, but also if we would get treatment or not, since we already have a wonderful, healthy DD). I PM'd you. BTW good luck this week!

[ladylaura]

Originally Posted by 5terre

Laura, I'm also in MA and would love to hear where you're going and who your urologist is, and what you think of them. We are still in the deciding stages (who to pick, but also if we would get treatment or not, since we already have a wonderful, healthy DD). I PM'd you. BTW good luck this week!

Thanks! We hated our urologist - Dr. Lamont. He was an idiot and did every single test on my husband EXCEPT a blood karyotype. Like, that was just dumb. If it's not hormonal or physical, why not CHECK THE GENES?! As a result, we thought we just had unexplained MFI. We ended up sitting on the idea of doing IVF for about 5 months, and when we finally ended up seeing our RE, she ordered the karyotype while also tentatively setting up our first IVF for January. Lo and behold, the karyotype came back with some interesting results and now here we are in March, FINALLY getting ready to get things going!

In my opinion, the urologist was only useful for poking around and check all of the physical stuff - he had no experience with infertility. That would be the #1 thing I'd check for when finding your urologist! Make sure he/she checks hormone levels, physical problems (blockages, etc) and definitely get the genetic stuff tested, too.

[5terre]

Laura - Wow, that is frustrating that it took that long to find out that there was a genetic error. So is the karyotype routine? It makes sense to check that, but from what I've read it doesn't look like they always do. The urologist we have an appointment with sees patients right in the IVF clinic so I figure he should have experience in infertility. DH actually saw a local urologist about a year ago for testicular pain but they didn't find anything. I'm curious to see that report now, though.

[ladylaura]

Originally Posted by 5terre

Laura - Wow, that is frustrating that it took that long to find out that there was a genetic error. So is the karyotype routine? It makes sense to check that, but from what I've read it doesn't look like they always do. The urologist we have an appointment with sees patients right in the IVF clinic so I figure he should have experience in infertility. DH actually saw a local urologist about a year ago for testicular pain but they didn't find anything. I'm curious to see that report now, though.

I'm not entirely sure if the karyotype would be routine, but our insurance covered it (I guess it's a $2000 test or something?) which means that we were certainly qualified to receive it... It just seems to me that it would make sense to check the genes if everything else turns out fine. Apparently translocations are much more common than people think - 1 in 600 men has one! Another possibility would have been Klinefelter's syndrome, which is also something that we could only find out about through a karyotype. And in the case of a Robertsonian translocation, the person is actually 100% normal except for decreased sperm count and, of course, struggles with fertility. Women can have it too - it just causes lots of miscarriages since the fertilized embryos may be genetically abnormal.